Meru (Kimeru) Alphabet

Unicode's CLDR, the data that teaches phones and computers each language, lists the letters of Kimeru as the 26 letters a to z with two more: ĩ placed right after i and ũ right after u. With capitals that makes 56 characters, all in the symbol grid above. The language calls itself Kĩmĩrũ in the CLDR Meru locale, with the prefix Kĩ- that names languages, just as English is Kĩngeretha and French Kĩfuransi.

Not every letter carries the same weight. Native Kimeru words lean on the vowels a, e, i, ĩ, o, u, ũ and a core of consonants such as k, m, n, r, t, th, w and y, as in the CLDR words Kiumia (Sunday), Wethatu (Wednesday) and Mbere ya Kristũ (before Christ). Letters like f, p, s, v and z turn up mostly in borrowed words and names, which is why the locale's own list has Kĩfuransi, Kĩpolandi (Polish), Kĩspĩni (Spanish) and Kĩvietinamu (Vietnamese). Q and x are there only for foreign names.

Ĩ ĩ and Ũ ũ: the two tilde vowels of Kimeru

In Kimeru the tilde is not an accent on top of i and u: it makes separate vowels, so i and ĩ, u and ũ, are as different as e and o. This is the spelling shared by the Bantu languages around Mount Kenya. In the closely related Gĩkũyũ, ĩ sounds close to the e of English say and ũ close to the o of go, while plain i and u keep the sounds of see and moon. Unlike the tilde in Portuguese ã or õ, it says nothing about the nose.

A long vowel is written twice, which you can see in the CLDR month name Mĩĩ (May), and is why the language's name is also spelled Kĩmĩĩrũ, or plain Kimiiru and Kimeru on keyboards without the tilde. Dropping the tilde blurs the word, yet it is the first thing lost on a phone: many searches are typed as "kimeru". Careful writing keeps it, as CLDR does in Ĩpurũ (April), Njuraĩ (July) and Oktũba (October). Tone is part of the spoken language but is not marked in everyday spelling.

How to type ĩ and ũ, Kenyan quotes and the shilling

The four letters are U+0128 Ĩ, U+0129 ĩ, U+0168 Ũ and U+0169 ũ. In Microsoft Word on Windows type the code and press Alt+X: 0129 Alt+X gives ĩ, 0169 Alt+X gives ũ, 0128 and 0168 the capitals; elsewhere use Character Map or copy them from this page. On a Mac add the ABC Extended input source, then press Option+N followed by i or u. On Linux the Compose key followed by ~ and the letter works. In HTML write ĩ, ũ, Ĩ and Ũ. On a phone, long-press i or u if your keyboard offers the tilde forms, or add a keyboard made for Gĩkũyũ, which has both.

For curly quotes on Windows hold Alt and type 0147 for “, 0148 for ”, 0145 for ‘ and 0146 for ’ on the number pad; on a Mac Option+[ gives “, Option+Shift+[ gives ” and Option+] and Option+Shift+] give the single quotes. The Kenyan shilling has no Unicode sign of its own. CLDR names it Shilingi ya Kenya in Kimeru and writes amounts as Ksh1,000.00, with a comma between thousands and a full stop for decimals.

Where the Meru language is spoken

Kimeru is the Bantu language of the Meru people (Ameru) on the north-eastern and eastern slopes of Mount Kenya 🏔️ and the Nyambene Hills, around Meru town in Meru County and into neighbouring Tharaka-Nithi. About 2 million people speak Kimeru in Kenya, making it one of the country's larger languages. Many speakers also use Swahili (the national language) and English; both are official languages in Kenya. Its main dialects follow the old Meru sections, among them Imenti, Tigania and Igembe.

The Meru are a people of their own, and their language belongs to the same family of Mount Kenya Bantu languages as Gĩkũyũ, Kiembu, Chuka and Tharaka, with Kamba a little further off. That is why they share ĩ and ũ and words like Kiumia for Sunday. The Meru people of Arusha in Tanzania, by Mount Meru, are a different community whose language, Kirwa (Rwa), is a separate Bantu language. Kikuyu, Embu, Kamba and Swahili each have a letters collection of their own, and Kenya has one for the flag, the shilling and the country's emoji.